Manure spreader beater



April 20, 1965 LA VERNE H. SCHULTZ ETAL 3,179,420

MANURE SPREADER BEATER Original Filed Oct. 31, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1April 20, 1965 LA VERNE H. SCHULTZ ETAL 3,179,420

MANURE SPREADER BEA'I'ER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Oct. 31, 1962JA/I/E/I/TO/QS wz fi 23 512/? W4} X770 5. 1

United States Patent 3,179,420 MANURE SPREADER BEATER La Verne H.Schultz, Rochelle, Ill., and Harold H. McLeland, Cedar Falls, Iowa,assignors to L. H. Schultz Manufacturing Company, Rochelle, 111., acorporation of Illinois Continuation of application Ser. No. 234,495,Oct. 31, 1962. This application Apr. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 363,670

. 16 Claims. (Cl. 275-6) t This application is a continuation of ourcopending application, Serial No. 234,495, filed October 31, 1962, nowabandoned.

This invention relates to manure spreaders and is more particularlyconcerned with improvements in an all-purpose rotary beater designed togive wide and fairly uniform distribution besides all of the shreddingnecessary for all manures from the light fluffy chicken litters to theheaviest green bedded cattle manures, these results being achievedpartly by virtue of a specially designed drum of open or skeletonconstruction giving highly desirable aerodynamic effects never beforeobtained and of maximum benefit with the lighter and finer materials,and partly by virtue of the novel shape and arrangement of blades andbeater bars on the periphery of the drum.

In our improved rotary beater,which is used by itself, we' incorporatein a novel way all of the facilities for good reduction and properspreading of the manure heretofore requiring a plurality of rotaryheaters, as, for example, an upper beater and a lower beater and awidespread. In the beater of our invention:

(1) A drum of regular polygonal cross-section, preferably hexagonal, isprovided of open or skeleton construction, not only for lightness andsimplicity and economy of production but also to provide six V-shapedbeater bars on the six corners of the hexagon to give the desired airimpeller action as well as good deflection of solids, the drum beingdisposed on a horizontal axis at the rear of and crosswise relative toan endless conveyor on the bottom of the box of the manure spreader thatfeeds the material to the beater;

(2) Two series of straight shredding and deflecting blades are securedto the beater bars on the flats on the periphery of the drum beginningat the middle and angled outwardly in diverging relationship to oneanother to define two complete 360 spirals, one right hand, the otherleft hand, the neighboring blades of each spiral being disposed withtheir end portions overlapping but spaced axially for good manure pickupand elimination, the overlapping of the end portions making for bettershredding while the spaced relationship of the overlapped end portionsis highly important in picking up air and deflecting it out toward theends of the beater for improved spreading, this result being notobtainable with continuous or unbroken spirals, and

(3) All of the blades are alike and interchangeable, each having anelongated attaching flangeresting firmly on the flat periphery of thehexagonal drum and secured to the beater bars enabling good and securefastening in a simple way, as by cap screws, and an elongated uprightand substantially radial straight baflle and beater portion at rightangles to said flange, the radially outer edge of which is cut away todefine preferably only two large saw-like teeth to obtain greaterpenetration into the manure and secure better shredding action andbetter deflection, while the axial spacing of the overlapped endportions makes it possible for lengths of twine to be thrown outwardlyby centrifugal force so that the heater is truly self-cleaning.

' In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the rear end of 3,179,420 PatentedApr. 20, 1965 ice a manure spreader showing our improved beater, withthe cover for the drive sprockets and chains on one side removed toexpose these parts and showing also the manually controlled clutch,enabling easy starting and stopping of the rotary beater, and

FIGURE 2 is a similar perspective taken from the other side of themanure spreader, again with the cover for the drive chain and sprocketson that side removed to expose these parts. N

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts in thesetwo views.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 3 designates aconventional forage wagon or load feeder suitable for carrying a load ofmanure, the same running on wheels 4 and designed to be pulled behind atractor in the usual way to transport the load of manure in the box 5 tothe field to be fertilized thereby, the bottom 6 of the box having anendless apron or conveyor 7 made up of a number of regllarly spacedparallel cross-pieces operated over the top thereof by means of a pairof chains 8 on opposite sides of the box connected to the ends of thesecross-pieces and driven bysprockets on a rear cross-shaft 9 to moveslowly toward the open rear end 10 of the box, the lower flight of theapron 7 extending under the box and moving forwardly about and overother sprockets on an idler shaft at the front end of the box, as iswell known in the art. The shaft 11 extending along one side of the boxto the gear box 12 is driven in the usualway through a manuallycontrolled clutch from a power takeoff provided on the tractor, so thatthe apron 7 can be driven by means of shaft 9 in the manner describedwhenever the operator on the tractor clutches the power takeoff shaft onthe tractor, the necessary speed reduction being obtained by worm andgear reduction gearing in box 12 through which chain 13 driving sprocket14 on shaft 9 is driven, in a wellknown manner. A separate drive fromshaft 11 for the drive shaft 15 of beater 16 is provided by bevel gearsin the box 12 driving sprocket 17, which drives chain 18 and sprocket19, the latter turning freely on shaft 15 but being connectible to saidshaft when a clutch operable by lever 20 and flexible pullrope 21 isoperated by hand at the handle end of the rope, as indicated at 22 inFIG.- 1. The beater 16, which, as clearly shown in FIG. 2, is of adiameter about equivalent to the height of the box 5 disposed above andsubstantially level with the bottom 6 of box 5 with about a third of itsdiameter projecting into the open rear end of the box, and leaves asmall clearance space of about an inch and a fraction between it and theapron 7 at the rear end of the box bottom 6, and, hence, when there is asmall amount of manure left in the box, not enough to warrant furtheroperation of the beater, the clutch at 19 will be disengaged but theapron 7 will be allowed to continue unloading manure through this smallclearance space between the beater 16 and the bottom of box 5 until thelast of the manure has been unloaded, whereuponthe power takeoff clutchon the tractor is disengaged by the operator to stop driving the shaft11. Beater 16 is designed to be used by itself, as previously mentioned,but in this disclosure happens to be shown with a manure levelling rotoror drum 24 of smaller diameter driven with it in the same direction.Beater 16 is arranged to be driven in the direction of the arrow shownon sprocket 23 in FIG. 2 and, accordingly, the manure levelling drum 24,which, as best seen in FIG. 2, is spaced forwardly relative to thebeater and about level with the top thereof, is driven in the samedirection as said beater, as indicated by the arrow on its drivesprocket 25, sprockets 23 and 25 being connected by chain 26 to drivedrum 24 at about half the speed of beater 16. The U-shaped blades 27 ondrum 24 serve to break up clumps of manure, but the blades 27 on thisdrum serve mainly to level off any too high portions of a pile ofmanure, so that the manure is delivered at a fairly uniform volume tothebeater 16 for the final reduction and spreading. Plates Plfand P2secured on opposite sides of the box 5 at the open rear end providebearing support for the shafts carrying the beater 16 and drum 24. Aswill now be described, the single rotary beater 16, by virtue of itsimproved design and despite its simplicity of construction incorporatesall of the facilities for reduction and spreading of the manureheretofore requiring a plurality of rotary heaters.

The beater 16 comprises a hexagonal drum 28 of open or'skeletonconstruction fixed on and turning with shaft 15 extending therethrough0n the longitudinal axis thereof, the six flat surfaces thereon, eachdefined by coplanar halves of a pair of spaced parallel sheet metalbeater bars or strips 29 bent to V-section along the center line,

as indicated at 30, serving as air impellers and manure heaters anddeflectors as well as supports for two reversely spiralled sets orflights 31 and 32 of elongated straight blades 33 for breaking up andshredding the manure and spreading it as widely and evenly as possible,the two flights (each consisting of six blades) commencing at themiddle, of the drum, as at 34, and extending to the opposite endsthereof, each in one complete 360 spiral' or helix, as seen M35 inFIG..1. The two spirals 31 and 34 being complete and all of the blades33 being alike, and the drum 28 itself being of a balanced symmetricaldesign and construction, the beater 16 is evenly balanced to runsmoothly, and, as will soon appear, it is self-cleaning and does notaccumulate twine and manure on it to throw it out of balance. The blades33, being alike, are interchangeable. Each blade 33 comprises a flatlongitudinally extending straight attaching bottom flange 36 fastened bycap screws 37 to the beater bars 29 in flat surface to surface abutment,the blade having an elongated straight upright and substantially radialbaflie and beater portion 38 bent at right angles to and of the samelength as the flange 36, the radially outer edge of said portion 38having preferably two large widely spaced saw-like teeth 39 definedthereon, each with the leading edge extending substantially radially ofthe drum. .The consecutive blades of each spiral orhelix are axiallyoffset a little relative to one another, as seen at 40, to permit havingleading edges 41 overlap trailing edges 42 circumferentially for.improved aerodynamic action and also for a better shredding action andto provide an escape passageway between the spaced overlapping edges 41and 42 for the pieces of twine that are present invariably in the manurefrom the baled bedding and otherwise wrap to a certain extent on anytrue and uninterrupted or unbroken spiral or helix, even though the samehad a similar tooth configuration. Twine winding in any amount around abeater greatly reduces the manure reduction effectiveness of the beater,in extreme cases building up to the point of forming a solid cylinderhaving virtually no lifting or beating action left. The gaps 40 betweenadjacent ends of blades 33 make the present beater truly self-cleaning,as we have found that twine does not tend to wrap around the drum but isthrown ofl the. spaced overlapping blades by centrifugal action. If,despite the self-cleaning construction, any small amount of twinehappens to get wound around the drum 28, the longitudinal spaces 43between strips 29 permit entry of a knife to cut the twine and enablethe easy and speedy removal thereof. The open or skeleton construction,beside giving the advantage of lightness, is what enables theaerodynamic action obtainable with the V-shaped beater bars 29 workingin combination with the spirally arranged axially spaced butcircumferentially overlapping blades 33. The offset leading edges of theblades 33 tend to pick up air and the air is then deflected laterally bythe blades toward the ends of the beater 16. This feature alone is thereason this beater is so successful in spreading chicken manure. Actualtests with dry powdery chicken litter about the consistency of branshowed average deflection and pattern of 12 to 15 feet. Even the old3-beater spreaders will not spread this light material at alleffectively. The drum 28 has three coaxially spaced hexagonal frameplates 44 mounted on the center drive shaft 15 and fastened by means ofh ir peripheral flanges 45 to the strips 29 by cap screws 46, some ofthese cap screws serving also to fasten flanges 36 of blades 33 to thedrum 28.

In operation, the middle portion of each blade 33 lies on a hypotheticalspiral or helix around the drum 28, but, since every blade is straight,a gap 40 is left between the leading edge 41 of one blade and thetrailing edge 42 of the next blade. In addition to the axial spacingseen at 40, there is also some overlap of edges 41 and 42 relative toone another. This spacing and overlapping is of major importance fromthe standpoint of the aerodynamic action, as it causes air to be pickedup at the offset leading edges of the blades, and this air is thendeflected laterally by the blades toward the ends of the beater 16, thisaccounting for the success we have had in handling powdery materialslike chicken litter and spreading it over a wider area than was everpossible before with other Spreaders. The aerodynamic action is, ofcourse, beneficial in the spreading of other manures also but isespecially beneficial with the lighter materials. With the working sidesurface of each blade in a straight line, each blade as it picks up asmall amount of manure is free to eject and deflect this materialupwardly and rearwardly from the-rear of wagon 3 by centrifugal actionbut on an acute angle from the longitudinal center line of the box 5.With a continuous spiral, on the other hand,

i the only possible deflection from a straight line is due to whatlittle penetration of the manure can take place with the addition ofperipheral teeth, and, with such an arrangement, the spiral surface isonly slightly effective for deflection of manure particles, whereas withour con struction there is good ejection and deflection due to theopportunity for greater penetration of the manure by the deflecting sidesurfaces of each blade. At high speeds, (as, for example, 500-550 rpm.)only the radially outermost edge portions 30 of the beater bars 29 comeinto contact with the manure, thus reducing likelihood of adhesion andany tendency for buildup of any coating of manure on or in the drum to aminimum. The novel form and makeup of the two spirals 31 and 32, and thegaps 40 between neighboring blades in each spiral make the beaterself-cleaning as any twine coming in the manure is, we have found,usually thrown off the blades by centrifugal action, whereas with acontinuous unbroken spiral the tendency is for twine to wind onto thedrum. Any small amount of twine that might Wind on the drum can with ourconstruction be easily freed by cutting the same by entering a knife inany of the spaces 43 between bars 29. Manure. is an elastic medium andwith our two complete 360 spirals 31 and 32, one left hand and the otherright hand, both made up of straight blades 33 set in the novelrelationship herein disclosed, we have achieved the following threefurther distinct advantages:

('1) Greater penetration of the manure by the deflecting side surfacesof the blades 33 due to the fact that at any given area on any one bladethere is contact with that area of the blade only once per revolution,thus allowing time for a manure particle so contacted to fall toward theperiphery of the hexagonal drum, and, consequently, that means greaterpenetration of the blade surfaces, which, coupled with the high speed ofrotation of the drum accounts for greatly increased deflection of themanure ployed in each 360 spiral, and these spirals being of V equaloverall length, the drum is obviously evenly balanced, statically anddynamically, and

(3) Low cost of production is realized by the novel construction of thehexagonal drum 28 and the use of twelve blades 33, all of the same sizeand shape and there- [fore interchangeable, thus requiring only one setof dies for their stamping and forming.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims havebeendrawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

We claim: r

1. A rotary beater for a manure spreader adapted to be operated on ahorizontal axis immediately behind'the box of said spreader and have themanure to be spread delivered from the box rearwardly to the beater bysuitable conveyor means, said beater comprising a drum of regularpolygonal cross-section and skeleton construction having flat airimpeller bars extending lengthwise of the drum and defining the pointsof the polygon and adapted to serve as blade supports, and twosubstantially 360 spiral series of straight elongated blades, each ofsaid blades being toothed on its radially outer edge and secured atopposite ends of its radially inner edge substantially in right anglerelation to said drum on a neighboring pair of said air impeller bars atan acute angle relative to the longitudinal center line of the box, theblades of one series being angled one way and defining a right handspiral extending from the middle of said drum to one end thereof and theblades of the other series being angled the reverse way and defining aleft hand spiral extending from the start of the first series to theother end of the drum, each blade extending substantially the full widthof one flat surface on the periphery of the drum and having only themid-point of its length on a hypothetical true spiral, the leading andtrailing ends of neighboring blades in each series being spaced relativeto one another axially of the drum.

-2. A rotary beater as set forth in claim 1 wherein the leading andtrailing ends of neighboring blades in each series extend in overlappingrelation to one another circumferentially of said drum.

3. A rotary beater as set forth in claim 1 wherein said air impellerbars are V-shaped in cross-section and arranged wih the apex of the Vradially outermost so as to throw air outwardly from the drum.

4. A rotary beater as set forth in claim 1 wherein said air impellerbars are Vshaped in cross-section and arranged with the apex of the Vradially outermost so as to throw air outwardly from the drum, theleading edges of said blades by virtue of their axial spacing relativeto the trailing edges of neighboring blades in the same series pickingup air and deflecting it laterally toward opposite ends of the drum.

5. A rotary beater as set forth in claim 1 wherein the teeth on theradially outer edge of each of said blades consists of at least twocircumferentially elongated saw teeth of appreciable radial dimension.

'6. A rotary beater as set forth in claim 1 wherein the teeth on theradially outer edge of each of said blades consists of at least twocircumferentially elongated saw teeth of appreciable radial dimension,with the leading edge of each tooth extending substanially radially withrespect to said drum.

7. A rotary beater as set forth in claim 1 wherein there are air spacesleft between the edges of neighboring air impeller bars through which aknife may be entered and moved lengthwise of the drum to cut away twineif some gets wound around the periphery of said drum.

8. -A rotary beater for a manure spreader adapted to b operated on ahorizontal axis immediately behind the box of said spreader and have themanure to be spread delivered from the box rearwandly to the beater bysuitable conveyor means, said beater comprising a drum of regularpolygonal cross-section and skeleton construction having flat airimpeller bars extending lengthwise of the drum and defining the pointsof the polygon and adapted to serve as blade supports, and twosubstantially 360 spiral series of straight elongated blades, each ofsaid blades being toothed on its radially outer edge and secured atopposite ends of its radially inner edge substantially in right anglerelation to said drum on a neighboring pair of said air impeller bars atan acute angle relative to the longitudinal center line of the box, theblades of one series being angled one .Way and defining a right handspiral extending from the middle of said drum to one end thereof and theblades of the other series being angled the reverse way and defining aleft hand spiral extending from the start of the first series to theother end of the drum, each blade extending substantially the full widthof one tlat surface on the periphery of the drum and having only themidpoint of its length on a hypothetical true spiral, the leading andtrailing ends of neighboring blades in each series being spaced relativeto one another axially of the drum, the air impeller bars being V-shapedin cross-section with the apex of the V radially outward relative to theaxis of rotation of the drum to define the points of the polygon, eachbar providing two flanges for support and fastening of the adjacentend-s of two neighboring blades of both series of blades.

9. A rotary heater for a manure spreader adapted to be operated on ahorizontal axis immediately behind the box of said spreader and have themanure to be spread delivered from the box rearwardly to the beater bysuitable conveyor means, said beater comprising a drum of regularhexagonal cross-section defining fiat faces on the six sides of thehexagon, the flat faces having "longitudinally extending openings ofappreciable width provided therein defining ilat air impeller bars onopposite sides thereof, and two substantially 360 spiral series ofstraight elongated blades, each of said blades being toothed on itsradially outer edge and secured by its radially inner edge substantiallyin right angle relation to said drum on a flat peripheral face thereofat an acute angle relative to the longitudinal center line of the box,the blades of one series being angled one way and defining a right handspiral extending from the middle of said drum to one end thereof and theblades of the other series being angled the reverse way and defining aleft hand spiral extending from the start of the first series to theother end of the drum, each blade extending substantially the full widthof one flat surface on the periphery of the drum and having only themid-point of its length on a hypothetical :tr-ue spiral, the leading andtrailing ends of neighboring blades in each series being spaced relativeto one another axially of the 10. A rotary beater as set forth in claim9 wherein the leading and trailing ends of neighboring blades in eachseries extend, in overlapping relation to one another circumferentiallyof said drum.

1-1. A beater as set forth in claim 9 wherein said drum has air thrownoutwardly therefrom through said longitudinal openings.

12. A beater as set forth in claim 9 wherein said drum hasair thrownoutwardly therefrom through said longitudinal openings, the leadingedges of said blades by virtue of their axial spacing relative to thetrailing edges of neighboring blades in the same series picking up airand deflecting it laterally toward opposite ends of the drum.

13. A rotary beater as set forth in claim 9 wherein the teeth on theradially outer edge of each of said blades consists of at least twocircumferentially elongated saw teeth of appreciable radial dimension.

14. A rotary beater as set forth in claim 9 wherein the teeth on theradially outer edge of each of said blades consists of at least twocircumferentially elongated saw teeth of appreciable radial dimension,with the leading edge of each tooth extending substantially radiallywith respect to said drum.

15. A rotary beater as set forth in claim 9 wherein said able conveyormeans, said beater comprising a drum of regular hexagonal cross-sectiondefining flat faces on he six sides of the hexagon, the flat faceshaving longitudinally extending openings of appreciable 'Width providedtherein defining fiat air impeller bars, on opposite sides thereof, andtwo substantially 360 spiral series of straight elongated blades, eachor said blades being toothed on its radially outer edge and secured byits radially inner edge substantially in right angle relation to saiddrum on a fiat peripheral face thereof at an acute angle relative to thelongitudinal center line of the box, the blades of :one series beingangled one way and defining a right hand spiral extending from themiddle of said drum to one end thereoi and the blades of the otherseries being angled the reverse way and defining a left hand spiralextending from the start oi the first series to the other end of thedrum, each 8 blade extending substantially the full width of one flatsurface on the periphery of the drum and having only the mid-point ofits length :on a hypothetical true spiral, the leading and trailing endsof neighboring blades in each series being spaced relative to oneanother axially of the drum, there being V-shaped surfaces defined atthe junctions of the flat air impeller bars on the six points of thehexagonal drum with the apex of each V radially outward t relative tothe axis of rotation of the drum, the adjacent trailing and leading endsof two neighboring blades of both series being fastened to the drum onsaid fiat air impeller bars on opposite sides of the apex of the V.

t References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 993,640 5/ 1'1'Barnard 275-3 1,328,618 1/20 7 Cook 2755 2,969,986 1/6 1 Dyke 275-63,069,172 12/6 2 Beiler 275-6 ANTONIO =F. GUIDA, Acting PrimaryExaminer. WILLIAM A. SMITH, In, Examiner.

1. A ROTARY BEATER FOR A MANURE SPREADER ADAPTED TO BE OPERATED ON AHORIZONTAL AXIS IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE BOX OF SAID SPREADER AND HAVE THEMANURE TO BE SPREAD DELIVERED FROM THE BOX REARWARDLY TO THE BEATER BYSUITABLE CONVEYOR MEANS, SAID BEATER COMPRISING A DRUM OF REGULARPOLYGONAL CROSS-SECTION AN SKELETON CONSTRUCTION HAVING FLAT AIRIMPELLER BARS EXTENDING LENGTHWISE OF THE DRUM AND DEFINING THE POINTSOF THE POLYGON AND ADAPTED TO SERVE AS BLADE SUPPORTS, AND TWOSUBSTANTIALLY 360* SPIRAL SERIES OF STRAIGHT ELONGATED BLADES, EACH OFSAID BLADES BEING TOOTHED ON ITS RADIALLY OUTER EDGE AND SECURED ATOPPOSITE ENDS OF ITS RADIALLY INNER EDGE SUBSTANTIALLY IN RIGHT ANGLERELATION TO SAID DRUM ON A NEIGHBORING PAIR OF SAID AIR IMPELLER BAR ATAN ACUTE ANGLE RELATIVE TO THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER LINE OF THE BOX, THEBLADES OF ONE SERIES BEING ANGLED ONE WAY AND DEFINING A RIGHT HANDSPIRAL EXTENDING FROM THE MIDDLE OF SAID DRUM TO ONE END THEREOF AND THEBLADES OF THE OTHER SERIES BEING ANGLED THE VERSE WAY AND DEFINING ALEFT HAND SPIRAL EXTENDING FROM THE START OF THE FIRST SERIES TO THEOTHER END OF THE DRUM, EACH BLADE EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY THE FULL WIDTHOF ONE FLAT SURFACE ON THE PERIPHERY OF THE DRUM AND HAVING ONLY THEMID-POINT OF ITS LENGTH ON A HYPOTHETICAL TRUE SPIRAL, THE LEADING ANDTRAILING ENDS OF NEIGHBORING BLADES IN EACH SERIES BEING SPACED RELATIVETO ONE ANOTHER AXIALLY OF THE DRUM.